Under the glow of outdoor lights across the Edgartown mini-park, next to the bookstore, a torch lit the shamash, or helper candle, on a public menorah in the middle of Main Street at sundown on Sunday. The flame from the shamash was then used to light the first of the eight holiday candles on the menorah, marking the start of Hanukkah.
This Hanukkah, the menorah glows increasingly brighter against bitterly cold and dark nights as more candles are lit, though the rest of them on the public menorah are lit electronically.
Menorahs were lit in homes and places of worship across the Island Sunday to celebrate the first night of the eight-day festival, as is done every year in the Jewish tradition. But this year, the experience was raw, as Rabbi Tzvi Alperowitz of Chabad on the Vineyard put it, in light of news of mass shootings over the weekend. A message in line with the story of the holiday, however, pervaded in speeches by both of the rabbis who head the two Jewish faith communities on the Island, both of whom hosted events Sunday: There can be light even in the darkest of times.
Chabad on the Vineyard held a large Hanukkah celebration in partnership with the Edgartown Board of Trade, with live music, a breakdancing show, and latkes at the park in Edgartown, and the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center held a first-candle-lighting ceremony in Tisbury with music by Eric Johnson and Anthony Esposito, a play by the Hebrew School children, and dinner catered by Chef Ting.
But amidst the radiance of the candles, there was a palpable sorrow over news about shootings at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on Saturday, and in Sydney, Australia, at a Jewish celebration Sunday, which Australian authorities have declared a terrorist attack. There was also apprehension, as acts of anti-seminitism continue to occur across the country and world; there was police presence at both Island events Sunday.
The celebration in Australia that was interrupted by the shooting was a Chabad event, and Rabbi Eli Schlanger, whom Alperowitz called a colleague, was one of those killed.
Before the lighting of the menorah in Edgartown, Alperowitz took a few minutes to discuss the significance of the holiday and what had happened on Bondi Beach, which he said was at one of the first public Hanukkah celebrations to take place this year. “We all woke up to the horrible news of … innocent Jewish people murdered in cold blood as they gathered at a Hanukkah celebration, not very different than the one we are gathered at now.”
News outlets currently report the death toll of at least 15 worshipers, all of whom so far have been identified as Jewish, with over 30 hospitalized from injuries. A 16th reported death was the shooter, killed by police, who allege he was part of a father-and-son team that appears to have been inspired by the militant Islamic group ISIS.
“So the question is, would we gather here today to celebrate? Maybe we should stay at home. Maybe this isn’t the time to gather and celebrate Hanukkah,” Alperowitz said. “No, the whole message of Hanukkah is, you come into the darkness, you wait till it’s dark, and then you light a candle.”
The Hebrew Center, which is led by Rabbi Caryn Broitman, also acknowledged the shooting. Even through hard times, Broitman said, “We can bring back light.”
Broitman also sent out a letter to Hebrew Center members on Sunday that said: “We will light the candle as an act of faith. We will take the shamash, the ‘helper candle,’ as a reminder that we too need to help bring the light. We will light a memorial candle for those who were killed. And we will recognize, on this holiday that celebrates heroism, the heroic acts of bystanders: the students who attended to the bleeding of other students in the middle of the shooting at Brown; and an unarmed bystander at Bondi Beach, Ahmed al-Ahmed, a fruit stand operator who was in the area, who saved many lives by tackling one of the gunmen from behind and disarming him.”
There was police presence at both events yesterday; Edgartown Chief of Police Chris Dolby came out to the Edgartown mini-park for Chabad’s celebration, and the Hebrew Center also had security.
“Hanukkah is a holiday born in devastation, and it’s not that we ignore the darkness, not at all,” Alperowitz said, referring to the miracle story of how a one-day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights in the temple menorah after the Jewish Maccabees successfully revolted against the Seleucid Empire. “We light a candle in spite of it. We gather here to celebrate Hanukkah, and we honor the memory of all those innocent people who were killed in Sydney.”
Hanukkah celebrations continue throughout the rest of the week. Chabad on the Vineyard organized a total of three public menorah lightings across the Island. There is another one on Thursday, Dec. 18, at 4 pm in Ocean Park in Oak Bluffs, and one at Owen Park in Vineyard Haven at 4 pm on Sunday, Dec. 21, pending resolution of the menorah placement, Alperowitz said. The Hebrew Center hosts another candle-lighting with music and singing, dinner by Chef Ting, and latkes by the Salop family on the sixth night of Hanukkah, Friday, Dec. 19, at 5:30 pm.